Button orienting and attaching machine



Dec. 9, 1941.

BUTTON OR IENT ING AND ATTACHING MACHINE Filed June 8, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet l F. H. PETERSON 2,265,576

Dec. 9, 1941. F. H. 'PETERSON I 2,265,576

BUTTON ORIENTING AND ATTACHING MACHINE Filed June 8, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet;

There will also be seen the milled channel or groove 4 formed in the extension plate 2 extending up into the circular portion of the base plate, as at 5.

There may further be seen the concentric overhanging wall 6 (near the top of the plate to the right),.which terminates at 1. The outer periphery of the base plate is also milled to form a cut-out portion or recess at 8, which portion extends downwardly to adjacent the upperend of the milled channel 4. It is in this recess or cut-out portion 8 that a spring-pressed arm, later other parts in position, it will be noted that the cup and its mounting on the base plate are 'identical'with thearrangementshown' in my pending application, 'towit, the; one filed by me on June23, 1939, for Orienting button-attaching machine and bearing'Serial Number 280,859.

Briefly, there is a stud 9 mounted in the base plate I, which stud, in turn,-is operated from a clutch I 0, which clutch is driven through a gear 1 ll from a motor and'reduction gearing (not shown). The stud is also provided with a sleeve arrangement [4, so that should a button become jammed, the sleeve on'the stud may remain idle together with the cup, while the stud rotates therein and thus does not damage the driving mechanism. 7

As heretofore-mentioned, the driving means and mounting of the hopper do not form a part of the present'invention. 7

However, it might be mentioned that to remove the hopper, the handle l2 may be pressed to withdraw the nose l2 of the dog from a ring or groove 13 formed in the sleeve I 4 and the hopper may then be bodily moved upwardly off the stud. The hopper is rotated through the sleeve 14 by a small'pin l5, which pin engages a --notch [6 formed in the hub I! of the hopper, all

clearly in my applicashown and described more tions heretofore-mentioned. I

Also the under periphery of the hopper is provided with offset radial grooves l8, these grooves extension 26 with similar overhanging walls, the forward end 21 of one wall being cut on an arc to correspond to the upstanding peripheral wall 21' of the base plate, which wall 27' practically encircles the said hopper.

An end View of the chute extension 26 is shown in Fig. 9, which really is a continuation of the chute 24. However, it is easier to mill this small extension and position it in place rather than mill the chute at this end or mill the base plate at this point.

Referring now to Figs. -1 and 6, there may be seen the arm 28 with its arcuate face 29 and its pivotal point 30. There is a slightly elongated opening or aperture 3| near the outer end of the arm and beyond this may be seen the cut-out portion 32 to carry the block 33, which is held in place by-the bolt 34 and pin 35, and carries the downwardly extending coil spring 36, which is to project into the raceway 31. One wall of the raceway is defined bythe arcuate surface 29 of the arm 28 while, of course, the outer periphery 38 of the hopper defines the other side of the raceway. This arm 28 pivotally fits in the'heretofore-mentioned-recess'8 and its arcuate surface 29 is, in reality, a part of the raceway.

each having an undercut wall or step 'l9','as may be seen in Figs. 1, 4 and 5, so that the buttons,

to be later mentioned, may only pass through the respective grooves in a certain aligned'position' with respect to the grooves.

Referring again to the hopper which is shown in Fig. 1 in its mounted position, there 'is a spider 20, which extends from the inner periphery of the hopper to the hub l1, and there are the small projections or vertical ribs 2| to cause the buttons to tumble when the hopper-is revolved. As heretofore-mentioned, this follows the exact structure as outlined in the above-mentioned applications. p

The base plate I is also provided with a well 22 with the slanting base 23, so that any buttons carried up a raceway 31, that is, along the overhanging wall 6 to the well will drop into the well and then back into the hopper to be again tumbled or rotated until they successfully pass through one of the offset radial grooves l8.

In the milled channel 4 is secured the chute 24 with its overhanging walls 25, while at the The side edge of the extensionplate 2 carries the spring 39, which bears against the outer edge of the arm 28, as may be seen in Figs. 1 and 2 to hold the arm in its normal position.

There is a pin 40, whichpasses through the elongated slot 3| in the arm 28 and is threaded within an opening- 4| in the hopper plate I, which pin' 40 rests against the rear wall of the opening 3! to hold the arm in its normal springpressed position. It will be noticed that the arcuate face or edge 29 of the arm normally extends slightly inwardly beyond the peripheral edge of the wall 6 (Fig. 1), so that, in reality, the

raceway is enlarged at a point just above the carried up into the enlarged portion of the raceway, they may not return to the chuteexcept by again passing through the hopper. This is necessary because after the buttons once get into this enlarged portion, they will rotate out of their properly oriented or aligned position.

v The type of button to beoriented is shown in Figs. 10, 11, and 12, and in Fig. 4 I have shown how the button passes through the'offset radial grooves in the hopper. Also in Fig. 5, I have shown a button as having passed intothe raceway and free to pass down the chute.

The buttons are similar to those shown in Patent Number 2,170,091, granted to me and Rollin R. Clarke on August 22, 1939, for Tackv I9 of the grooves cooperate with the aligning upper end of the chute may be seen the chute walls or steps 49 in the ends of the hubs of the buttons. The face of each button is provided with insignia 6!] "bearing a definite relation to the flats, and in the present instance the flats are at an angle of 20 to the vertical axis of the insignia, as the chute extends at such an angle to a line drawn through the central axis of the hopper and the attaching station (not shown).

Also, the distance (raceway) between the arcuate face 29 of the arm 28 and the side wall 38 of the hopper is slightly less than the major diameter of the hub of the button but slightly greater than the width measured on the minor axis of the hub, that is, across the flats, which permits the button to slide only when in proper position within the raceway.

It will be understood that I have not shown or described operating and driving parts of the orienting and attaching machine, but it might be noted that the hopper is preferably continuously rotated, so that the raceway will be well supplied with buttons, which insures that on an attaching operation there will always be a button under the plunger (not shown).

It will also be understood that the hopper will be partially filled with buttons and rotated in an anti-clockwise direction. Then, when a button align itself in position, as shown in Fig. 4, it will pass through its offset radial groove into the raceway. However, it still is not in its finally aligned position. As the major part of the face of the button is resting on the bottom of the raceway, the continued movement of the hopper, while a portion of the button is still in the groove, will tend to revolve the same by friction in a clockwise direction, at the same time, of course, slightly elevating the button in the raceway. When the flats 41 and 48 become parallel with the periphery 38 of the hopper and the side face 29 of the arm, the buttons are then free to pass down the raceway into the chute. Should there be a tendency for any button to jam during this elevating movement or striking of the buttons in the raceway, the arm 28 may yield slightly until such time as the button aligns itself correctly, that is, with the flats parallel, after which the arm will then be pressed back by the spring action to its normal position.

Any buttons which are carried beyond the coil spring 36 are free to rotate in the enlarged porand will be carried up into the well 22 and again drop back into the hopper. However, by providing the coil spring 36, as heretofore shown, any buttons once carried into the upper portion of the raceway will never fall back thereinto.

Thus, by providing the spring-pressed arm and locating it opposite the place where the buttons enter the raceway, any jamming of the buttons will be provided for, that is, the arm may move back slightly to, in reality, slightly enlarge the width of the raceway, but the arm being under spring pressure will never let the buttons revolve from their desired oriented position.

Many slight changes are possible in the construction hereinbefore set forth without in any way departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

In a button-orienting and attaching machine, a rotatable hopper having offset radial grooves through which are adapted to pass buttons in a certain aligned position with respect to said radial grooves, a concentric wall spaced from the periphery of the hopper to form a raceway for receiving the buttons, a chute registering with the lower end of said raceway, a portion of the said concentric wall being recessed and a springpressed arm being an arc of the concentric wall and being pivotally mounted in the recessed portion forming a part of the raceway, said springpressed arm being pivoted below a horizontal line drawn through the central axis of the hopper and said spring-pressed arm yieldably preventing the buttons from jamming when in said raceway while still retaining them in an oriented position, the upper portion of said raceway being enlarged to receive buttons carried up to said portion, and a stop located at the lower end of the enlarged portion to prevent any buttons from returning to said raceway after once having been carried to the enlarged portion.

tion of the raceway FREDERICK H. PETERSON. 

